fatbikes.com is going to let me return the crankset. thumbs up to them for helping me out. It took two email exchanges but they offered to take it back within 24 hours or so of me first contacting them.

mnyquist, I've also heard comments regarding eThirteen. I knew the BB was "cheap" but I was Ok with the idea of replacing the BB after a season of winter riding. I've also heard about bolts coming loose on chainrings and the crank arm. fortunately, I have had no issues with these. All the bolts on mine are properly torqued, which may help. I've also got very very few miles on mine. They might not have had the chance to come loose.

fatbikes.com is going to let me return the crankset. thumbs up to them for helping me out. It took two email exchanges but they offered to take it back within 24 hours or so of me first contacting them.

mnyquist, I've also heard comments regarding eThirteen. I knew the BB was "cheap" but I was Ok with the idea of replacing the BB after a season of winter riding. I've also heard about bolts coming loose on chainrings and the crank arm. fortunately, I have had no issues with these. All the bolts on mine are properly torqued, which may help. I've also got very very few miles on mine. They might not have had the chance to come loose.

Scott-what are you going to replace the E13 with?

I think I will have Trail's Edge replace the BB and properly torque prior to Barry Roubaix. Right now it is just an annoyance. By the way, mine came loose on the first ride!

"buyer beware, I guess. I always buy from my LBS. i stopped buying from online retailers years ago because of service/quality issues."
Sad and funny both, I stopped buying from my local LBS because of service/quality/trust issues. It's a funny sport we love.

I re adjusted my front and rear der because they weren't shifting quite as crisp as I would like. It is a pretty new bike and needed it. It wasn't set up how I would expect from the shop but I've come to expect that sort of thing. *however, they have much more experience with this set up and I'm sure there was good reason* Shifts very well now. The front needs a little added input when going from small to big but I expected that. That is a big jump. Inconsequential to me or my riding to push the trigger for an extra moment. I'm really happy with gear so far.

That's exactly what I did after buying mine. Then I made the mistake of actually looking at why you had to give it "that extra push" - which is not normal. And now I am fighting the Corporate Behemoth that is Salsa/QBP/Problem Solvers, et all. Very difficult trying to talk sense to corporate cubicle jockeys only concerned with covering their as_ . And mention anything that has to do with engineering, wow, what a blank look then. How has our sport been reduced to this? And when has hiring smarmy pr types become more important than people who know how something works? E thirteen is the only company I have talked to that has tried to do something about the issue-and it's not their issue. They've just been thrown into the cluster-f_ _ _ of Salsas and Problem Solvers front shifting debacle. Now Salsa is willing to throw the correct front derailleur at the problem - will see how this works...... but it does nothing for the placement of the derailleur relative to the centerline of the frame, which is the main issue. I can only hope the new derailleur is of a different enough design to overcome the mounting problem.

Have you thought about adding a shim behind the front der to bump it out a bit?
I am normally very particular with this sort of thing and expect things to be north of mediocre. But, I couldn't imagine this arrangement with super smooth shifting characteristics..although going from big to little is instantaneous
I would be bummed if I was derailing or having to alter my riding just to make the shift.

I believe the shim would have to be in the vicinity of 5 mm. That would require a specially machined piece of metal. No, not a good idea. The interface between the derailleur and the mount must be exact, very strong and secure. Any shim inserted would hurt more than help. Thanks for your suggestion.

Would be a very simple experiment plenty strong and secure. Could be done with UHMW or aluminum or probably even ABS. Would take 5minutes. You may be getting a tad carried away with the exacting thing? 3mm could make a world of difference...

Just for the final record, usless anyone has more to add, Salsa, after saying they would replace the front derailleur with the correct one, has reneged on that promise. And once again, It's my fault, just take it back to the dealer, he'll fix it right...blah blah blah. Not once did they even try to understand Sram's design criteria. And again, smarmy semi-brainless cubicle types intent on covering the bosses as_ . Deniablilty being more important than understanding/fixing the issue. Not just for me, but everybody with a Mukluk 2x10 set-up. I will never understand how trying to marginalize your customers is going to grow your business. Seems like just throwing more fuel on the wrong side of the fire. I know I'll have nothing good ever to say about salsa. It'll save me alot of time from reading all those cute blog stories - as in bs. And have you noticed how cheap their stems, posts, and handlebars look? Sad.

Not to be a d!ck, because I do sympathize with your situation, but nobody else seems to be having this issue. IIRC there is only one other person in this thread complaining about how the front derailleur on a '13 muk works, and he was clearly having a different issue than you are. There are a bunch of these bikes out there racking up miles and I think it is safe to say it would be all over these boards if everyone was plagued by this.

Likewise, it seems pretty logical that this is being caused by either an out of tolerance part or a mistake during assembly. You seem to be dancing around this, but who put this bike together and why are they not the ones trying to figure this out??

It's mostly me trying because I'm 100 miles away from my dealer. Not everyone has one next door. Yes, I should be taking it back. BUT, if the numbers are wrong, it's just not gonna be right. If you read all the thread, the guy with the same issue that just "didn't mind pushing a little extra" is having the same trouble. The fact that there are so many out there and no ones upset about it, well, maybe they're like this guy. Just in love and hasn't come up for air yet. I was too. But.... you can make it shift kinda, never said you couldn't. But a 2x drivetrain should be instant and effortless. I've ridden 3 of them, and none of them were. So - for whatever it's worth, I'm trying to get the root cause cured. Look at the cable as it comes through the arm of the derailleur. It comes out at a sharp angle. Now watch it closely when you shift. The cable hits the arm of the derailleur that holds the cable housing. Nothing you can do about it. The Muk3's may not be as bad, with a different crankset-possibly a little bit different chainline. It wouldn't take much to be a touch better. Look at the Shimano derailleur. I haven't seen one in the flesh, but it looks like the arm is out of the way of the cable/cam. I'm hoping that will help a bit too. That's my next move.

Not to be a d!ck, because I do sympathize with your situation, but nobody else seems to be having this issue. IIRC there is only one other person in this thread complaining about how the front derailleur on a '13 muk works, and he was clearly having a different issue than you are. There are a bunch of these bikes out there racking up miles and I think it is safe to say it would be all over these boards if everyone was plagued by this.

Likewise, it seems pretty logical that this is being caused by either an out of tolerance part or a mistake during assembly. You seem to be dancing around this, but who put this bike together and why are they not the ones trying to figure this out??

I tend to agree. Post up a pic of the FD and crank setup, and see if someone here can spot something.

Builder, I agree with the last two posters. Get someone knowledgeable to look at it.

It seems to me that even if the Problem Solvers Direct Mount Adapter is out of spec (doesn't position the FD out far enough by a few mm's) and you have the wrong or, at least less than ideal cage on the X7 High Direct Mount derailleur, with proper adjusting the thing should work reasonably well.

I don't understand what you are describing about how the cable is exiting the derailleur, and in one post you mention the derailleur binding on itself. Perhaps there is a problem with the derailleur itself. But it seems to me that it is most likely a setup and adjustment issue.

Builder: I'm not sure what you were hoping to accomplish when you posted this thread. You bought a cool new bike and it doesn't work. We get that. You're frustrated, we get that, too. But people have offered solutions and advice and you've shot them all down. People have asked for pictures, and you haven't posted any.

If you are angry at Salsa customer support and just want to vent, that's cool. If you are posting to get feedback , help or suggestions, it would help if you displayed some courtesy and treated those posters with the same level of respect that you expected when you called Salsa.

Ok, I appreciate the suggestions. I've either tried them, or they aren't viable. I should have given better responses to my ongoing attempts at shifting. Guys, if I knew anyone "more knowledgeable", I would be there in a heartbeat. Not sayin' there aren't alot of guys out there, I just don't know any-or they are many multiple hundreds of miles away. I am going to my dealer today to show him the progress I've made. He can take the problem from there. Salsa's not interested, and neither am I any more. The derailleur isn't spaced out far enough to shift properly, as per srams specifications, plus it's the wrong model. It shifts, but only kinda. Don't believe me, look at Srams specs for the front D on a fat bike, then measure the stand off on the Muk. If someone is having the same issues, I would suggest a Shimano front D. From what I have found out, they have more travel than the sram. I haven't tried it yet, but it may help. Don't know what else to say. Picture, yup, that'd be fun, but I'm no photographer, and I haven't figured out how to post them here on the thread. And this seems to have been a waste of time instead of all of us being out riding. So that's where I'm going. Never said I didn't like riding the thing, just hate something that doesn't work properly. Anyone want to buy an overpriced frame and fork? Large. white with salsas graphics.

On what I hoped to accomplish, I hoped to find enough other people with the same issue to make salsa look seriously at the problem instead of just blowing me off. Seems the only other guy with the issue doesn't think it's bad. OK. The "waste of time " was not meant to imply any of the comments weren't good or apperciated. Only that the corporate mind at salsa isn't open to looking at an issue. They made no attempt to understand at all. Just obfuscate and deny and blame me. Oh boy. That's where the "waste of time" comment came from, not this thread. Thanks to everyone who was at least interested enough to post. Watch for the longer stand off on next years Mukluks.

You are too hung up on the specs. It is apparent that it will never satisfy you regardless of how it shifts. BTW, this derailleur doesn't need more range of motion.
I don't appreciate threads like this. When I first read it I thought " oh no my new bike is a jalopy". One of the reasons I opted for the Muk 2 was this crankset. I wasn't wild about the x7 front der but a front der is cheap and I have kept one on another one of my bikes because it shifts soooo well...even though I have a "better" one ready to install.
Based on how you responded here I can only imagine how you were with Salsa. The gear works well for me and many others I'm sure.
I'm afraid all credibility is lost on this one.

On what I hoped to accomplish, I hoped to find enough other people with the same issue to make salsa look seriously at the problem instead of just blowing me off. Seems the only other guy with the issue doesn't think it's bad. OK. The "waste of time " was not meant to imply any of the comments weren't good or apperciated. Only that the corporate mind at salsa isn't open to looking at an issue. They made no attempt to understand at all. Just obfuscate and deny and blame me. Oh boy. That's where the "waste of time" comment came from, not this thread. Thanks to everyone who was at least interested enough to post. Watch for the longer stand off on next years Mukluks.

you need to bring the bike to the dealer from whom you purchased it. I realize that you live 100 miles away, but that's simply the way it works. the fact that you haven't found anybody else with this issue means it's an isolated incident. Something the dealer should be able to take care of.

If you bought a car and you had a question about the transmission you wouldn't call Ford, you'd bring it back to the Ford dealer for repair.

if you don't want to drive 100 miles take it to any reputable shop and pay to have someone fix it
i have over 10 years experience as a mechanic
i got my mukluk 2 yesterday, built it last night. rode it today
everything worked fine on the workstand, but on the trails was another story
here are some notes, it shifted like crap. but since i was with a large group i just dealt with it. I didn't want to make them stop for me to adjust it. I got home, lowered the der until the cage almost hits the chainstay. adjust the cable tension and then set the limits. took it for a spin around town. Works FLAWLESSLY.

the fact that you are saying that it needs to be 3mm more outboard tells me you are not adjusting the limit screws properly. you can easily make up more than 3mm with the limit screws.

One thing to note as Dan GSR has stated. Be sure when your front derailluer is mounted it is only 2-3 mm above the chainstay. I have the same derailluer mounted on my Mukluk and have had success with an Isis drive 36x22 FSA Crank and now with 36x22 Raceface Turbine Crank.